Mistakenly cut Zinsser Seal Coat with lacquer thinner

forager1945August 8, 2009

I mistakenly (stupidly?) cut Zinsser Seal Coat with lacquer thinner instead of denatured alcohol, and applied it to a newly-stripped-and-sanded solid wood credenza. I realized my mistake before applying the light sanding that follows a Seal Coat application. (Seal Coat is a 2-lb. de-waxed shellac, which I attempted to change to 1-lb. cut, using a 50-50 mixture.)

Does anyone know how the lacquer thinner affects the process? Or what I can do to resolve the problem, assuming there is a problem? Can I sand it down and apply another coat of the appropriate mixture?

Lacquer thinner is not a homogeneous product -- it is a mix based on properties desired (and economic variables). So it it is hard to say. Some companies produce a "padding lacquer" that is shellac resin in some variant of lacquer thinner. Seal Coat itself has some different solvents in it in an attempt to increase the shelf life, which is why they say it has a 3 year shelf life instead of the usual 6-12 months of shellac flakes dissolved in denatured alcohol.